The Bitcoin price is exhibiting a “Bart Simpson” trend as shorters take advantage of its short-lived bullrun to near $4000, Adam Back has said.

Bitcoin Falls Away From $4k

In social media comments February 25, the HashCash inventor and Blockstream CEO said that leverage-based platforms such as BitMEX were broadly responsible for the volatility which has characterized Bitcoin over the past week.

“It’s a ‘Bart’ Simpson price formation, suspected to be triggered by overuse of leverage (for example) on (BitMEX) and other high leveraged platforms. Short-squeeze followed by long squeeze,” he summarized.

The largest cryptocurrency gained over 10 percent to pass $4000 on some exchanges, only to fall to near previous levels once again Monday.

At press time, BTC/USD 00 traded around $3770, taking 24-hour losses to just over 9 percent.

Ethereum (ETH) 00 was down 15 percent compared to Sunday, while EOS 00 shed the most out of the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap at 16 percent.

It’s a “Bart” Simpson price formation, suspected to be triggered by overuse of leverage eg on @bitmex and other high leveraged platforms. Short-squeeze followed by long squeeze. Is it good for Bitcoin? It’s just a market artefact, more liquidity would likely reduce the effect. pic.twitter.com/zKJef6QFUv

Trading And ‘Good For Bitcoin’

As Bitcoinist reported, trading moves have often drawn criticism over their impact on the Bitcoin price, as well as its overall image.

The long-awaited entry of institutional investors into the space, expected to begin by Q2 this year, has aroused similar worries over Bitcoin exploitation as a quick bet.

In particular, Andreas Antonopoulos has led concerns resulting from what he and others see as the inevitable introduction of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Offering non-custodial interaction with Bitcoin, a protracted regulatory battle in the US over its issuance continues.